A New Timeline Born
by ButterSoldierMC
Summary: The Alcarrian brothers were naturally inseparable. But sticking together is harder than it seems, even as brothers in the toughest of times. What happens when a well-known gang leader chooses to change his fate, and drags the boys into his mess? How would one even choose their fate in the first place? And by changing his fate, what will become of the brother's fates?
1. Chapter 1

**AN**

 **Hello people of the... let me think about this... umm... screw it. Hey guys! I've decided to rewrite my chapters of this story because I definitely see where there could be some improvement. The main story line and plot will stay the same, and Stryke's chapters will not be changed unless he does so himself. You can re-read the chapters if you want, but it's not needed. I've just added more detail to the story, and maybe a few more small events. I hope you aren't angry at me for rewriting, but it's happening anyways! Now, if you're a new reader, let me give you some information that YOU MUST READ! *whispers* Or I will come to your house while you're sleeping, bury you alive on top of 4 tons of landmines in a spiked coffin, and when you wake up, I will enjoy the fireworks with popcorn bathed in your parents blood. ANYWAYS, a friend and fanfiction writer you may know named Icarus 'Stryke' Aethon will be co-writing this with me. I haven't tried this before and it seems fun so far. For the people who've already read this chapter, I'm sorry for not posting a new chapter. That will come very soon. I am able to be more active in the fanfiction community, so that's something. Back to the new reader info, the view points will constantly change, and no OCs will be accepted yet. This plot has been planned out and more or less forgotten, so I hope you enjoy! And now, I take you to the summary!**

 **Disclaimer: Icarus and I own nothing but our OCs, however, the rights to Final Fantasy XIII will be OURS!**

 _Summary:_

 _Scorch and Dels are an inseparable pair, however what will they do when they're forced to walk a path they do not wish to walk? Being thrown into the middle of chaos does not do any good to the mind, especially when it's been troubled by the past. You'd be surprised to see what people will do when they're desperate._

 **Now that the summary is improved (hopefully) you guys can enjoy the story! I decided to not introduce the characters as I usually dedicate my first few chapters to character development. However, there will be action this time! I will make this interesting to read because I know what it feels like to read a boring character/scene development chapter! Enjoy!**

" _What the fuck ARE you doing?!_ " Scorch harshly whispered to his life friend, Dels. At the moment, they were both on the roof top of a bakery observing the pedestrians below... well, they _were_ both there until Dels decided to jump into the dank alley that sat just to their right. What were they doing on the rooftop you ask? Why they were looking for some food and jewelry to steal of course. Why were they stealing jewelry and food? It's a long story, so I'll sum it up.

Scorch and Dels lived on their own in their own small hideout in a clearing in the middle of a path of alley ways. They had no one but each other to live for and with, so they tried their best to survive each day, stealing anything that was worth getting their hands on. Of course, the commoners noticed that the rate of stolen items had been high around that area, so most of them had bugged off to protect their precious belongings. This did have a slight impact on Dels and Scorch, but they still managed to get by.

Getting back at hand, Dels started sneaking towards the intersection of the alley and road. One man dressed in elegant purple and blue robes calmly strode along the side of the street. He seemed to be enjoying himself, but he also seemed ignorant of the people around him. 'Just another fat-cat scum' Dels thought with a smirk on his face. Every once in a while, some rich person would travel to the area, most likely to head for the bakery, but they never payed attention to the warnings they were given. These idiots were easy to target, and usually gained Dels and Scorch quite a bit of money. The jewelry that came off these assholes was quite valuable in the black market, so valuable in fact that sometimes Dels and Scorch had to fight for their life to keep possession of the treasured items.

The robed man walked right past Dels without even noticing his obvious form in the alley. 'Alright, let's do this' Dels thought as he casually walked out of the alley. Scorch watched above and kept an eyes on his brother in the casual crowd. He sure had the cloths to blend in well enough, thanks to the last rich person they stole from. Walking behind the smug bastard, Dels inspected him for any easy accessories to take. On the back of the man's robe, he spotted a deep blue sapphire glinting in the bright sunlight. 'What an easy target' Dels laughed in his head. He slipped out a short slim knife from his sleeve and walked a little faster to catch up to the dangling object. Just as he had barely touched even the string of diamonds that held the sahhpire in a necklace like fashion, the man turned around and grabbed his fist. Without realizing what happened, Dels stood frozen to his spot. 'W-What the hell?!' In Dels's mind, peace remained, as this had happened only twice before. Dels knew what to do in these situations. He had to play it off.

"Wait!" Dels yelled, but not to the man. Dels had yelled loud enough for Scorch to hear, and he understood. However, the middle aged man was fooled.

"You think you can steal from me low-life scum? Let me tell you something. I know about this area more than you. I know what types of criminals exist in this area, and you're nothing compared to them. If you try that again, I will break your arm, do you understand?" The mans voice was crude and commanding, yet Dels just acted like he was scared and nodded with his eyes closed. The man threw him back onto the ground, turned around, and walked away as if nothing had happened.

'Well, that was certainly interesting' Dels thought with a grimace. Just as Dels turned around to head back to the alley, he noticed a small crowd watching him with either blank or confused faces. Dels ignored them since he knew that if he started talking, he'd look suspicious. 'It would be best for the people to make some story up, then there will be no real knowledge of what happened. They'll forget in time.' As Dels walked into the shade of the alley way, Scorch jumped in front of him.

"You okay? I was surprised to see that he reacted so quickly without even glancing at you once."

"Yeah, I'm fine, but that was unusal."

"What do you mean?" Scorch asked with a frown.

"He said he knew this place better than we did. We haven't even seen him in this slum at least once, and we've grown up here."

"Gah, he's probably just bluffing. If he hasn't been here before, he certainly doesn't know this place. He just has a good sense of his surroundings, and he's clever. Trying to intimidate you was a good option, even if he couldn't back it up with knowledge, he seemed to have the physical strength to do so."

Dels grinned at Scorch as he finished speaking.

"What?"

"Listen to you, getting all philosophical. It's tear jerking." Dels said with a clownish grin.

"Shut up..." Scorch mumbled before walking towards the back of the alleyway. Dels followed him, still wearing his malevolent smile.

"So what are we going to do now? We can't roam around trying to steal stuff, we'll get caught for sure."

"Well, do we have enough money to buy food?"

"Buy food? What have you turned into?"

"Would you rather starve?"

Dels thought about it for a moment before replying. "No I guess not, but only this one time okay? I don't want to interact with anyone in case they have something I could steal later on."

"I know what you mean. We'll just get something off a local market then. I'm sure that a restaraunt would be too fancy for us. Imagine the looks on everyone's faces if we walked in looking like we had just come from the dirtiest fight in existence."

"Yeah, that would be a scene. Alright, then let's head back to the hideout, grab some Gil, and buy some food."

"Agreed."

The walk to their "hideout" was quite short, as it only took a few turns and tunnels to arrive at their home. The massive metal cargo carts surrounded by what looked like heaps of junk looked unused and worthless. However, the heaps of junk were actually complicated traps set up to kill anyone who tries to enter their hideout. Only the brothers had known how to get passed, as they knew every piece used in every trap. Besides the hidden entrance among the traps, there was a trapdoor at the top of the cargo box, which was only possible to get to if you had a ladder, jet pack, or super amazing jumping abilities. Even if you had gotten to the top, the trapdoor only opened from inside so it was practically impossible to get through without blowing it off. As always, the massive construction gave the boys pride, but there was only one problem. None of the traps had actually been set off before, so they had no idea if they worked. They sure looked deadly, but the question of functionality remained.

Easily weaving through the traps, Scorch and Dels entered their hideout and sighed in unison. They were relieved to be back in their cozy space. You might think that their hideout would consist of a few crappy furnishings but it was the opposite. Comfortable furniture sat in various places around the hideout and many decorations were set. Candles adorned the walls and shelves of trinkets, weapons, and other items covered the walls. How did they get all of this in here?

Well, when they first discovered this empty cargo box, the front doors were easily accessible so they were able to eventually upgrade the inside and outside of their hideout until it had appeared as it does now. There wasn't much more they needed, and it didn't take too much time to get it into this state due to the many rich people that used to travel freely. Once the amount of travelers had died down a little, there wasn't much Scorch and Dels could do with the hideout, so they decided to just leave it at that.

Walking to a red fluffy couch, Scorch flopped down into the relaxing object and closed his eyes. Dels sat in a chair and had done the same thing. For a few minutes, everything seemed to be okay, but then they both remembered something. They hadn't checked their appearances. That might not seem important, but technology was so advanced, it was possible to be tracked just by a small mechanical bug crawling on your arm. Bug inspection was always a priority when in the hideout. Despite being petty thieves, Scorch and Dels did not want to risk the chance of being caught, and after meeting that strange robed man, they were a bit worried.

Scorch stood at 5'5" and aged at 15 years old. He was quite skinny, but not in some over starved child like way. His medium length brown hair barely stooped over his sapphire blue eyes. His slightly tanned skin showed no sign of any bugs crawling on him, and the cloths proved to be clean also. 16 years old Dels then looked into the mirror and bent down a little, due to his height being 5'9" and the mirrors height reaching only 3 inches below Dels's. His medium length dark red hair almost fully covered his icy blue eyes, but it contrasted greatly against his pale skin. He saw no bugs on him either, and his cloths also seemed to be void of any bugs.

"Well, it looks like we're clean." Dels told Scorch.

"Yep- wait" Scorch stopped in his spot listening closely. 'Did I just hear something?'

"What is-"

"Shh!" Scorch listened to the quiet sound, waiting for the noise he heard to verify it was there again. Understanding what his little brother was doing, Dels listened also. Just as they were about to blow off the noise as some creation of their imagination, they heard the noise again. A small buzz emitted from the ground. Terrified, the brothers looked down to see a barely visible bug. They both knelt down and took a closer look. It was mechanical. 'Shit.' They knew they were in trouble. Just as Dels was about to smash the bastard bug, a loud rattling sound bounced off a metal wall.

Standing up, Scorch quietly ran to the weapons shelf and took a small green crossbow off the wooden slab. Listening to whatever was outside the hideout, Scorch made his way towards the ladder that led to the roof hatch. Before he started climbing, a voice yelled from outside.

"Come on out! We know you're there! We've come with a message and a lesson! If you don't come out, we'll call the police! You shouldn't be here anyways, should you?" The voice sounded like it belonged to a large grunt. 'So these are hired thugs huh?' Dels thought. Understanding the situation, the brothers both climbed the wooden ladder to the hatch. Scorch started to count down, and Dels understood.

"3... 2... 1... GO!" Scorch yelled as he burst open the large hat and crawled onto the roof, Dels following him.

 **AN**

 **Okay, so I hope this one was better than the original. I still have the original, so if it get enough hate, I'll add a little more detail to the original and post that instead. I'll update the other chapters, but for now, I'll see you guys later! Oh, and Icarus is doing the next chapter! Bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: How are you** **guys? *gets pelted by barrage of rotten food* Okay, I'm sorry! *tomato hits face* Hey, I said I was sorry! The thing is, there's been a lot of personal crap that's been going on added onto the fact that Sophmore Year has been kicking my ass. I've been keeping up with it and have surprisingly good grades, but that's not what you want. You want to get to the next, awaited chapter. You also want me to hurry up with Chapter Nineteen as well, and it's almost done, so bear with me. I hope you all enjoy this, and be sure to fav/follow the main writer, because I'm only here to help and that's all. This is his brain baby, I'm just helping nurture it…kinda like a nanny…things got weird, huh? 0_0**  
 **Cheers,**  
 **Stryke**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own FFXIII, it's the product of Square Enix…for now. I have a score to settle with them, and the rights will be mine…eh, ours.**

 **Chapter 2: That Escalated Quickly**

" **Go!"** Scorch threw open the hatch and immediately I flew into action, leaping down from the hatch.

"Surprise motherfuck...ers..." I broke off as I realized there was a little more than just five. In actuality, there was eight. _Oh shit._

Eight pairs of eyes turned towards me and I tried to gauge them. They were all grouped near the tunnel and one by one they broke out laughing. They wore black clothing and yellow scarfs, though the clothing differentiated from shorts and tank tops to pants and jackets, and had clubs of some sort in hand. My eyes widened when I saw a large brute of a man smiling down at me. Suddenly, one of the thugs dropped to the floor, a small hole between his eyes.

I thanked Etro for my brother's ability to aim before throwing myself at the thug closest to me. The thug, being extremely surprised at the fact that his friend just had his brain melted, was easily knocked to the floor. Pinning him to the ground, I grabbed his head and slammed it against the hard concrete repeatedly. With each impact, the thug's movements slowed before they stopped entirely.

Scrambling to my feet, I picked up the thug's club and charged at the remaining...four? "Leave some for me, yeah?" I yelled up to my brother before barely moving out of the way of a club. "Whoa, easy!" I exclaimed as I continued to dodge the thug's swings. "You could really fuck someone up with that thing." I jumped back, avoiding a wild, horizontal swing.

"Stand still, you thieving cunt!" Club-happy Asshole, as he will be known as henceforth, growled before feinting a swing and driving his knee into my gut.

Gasping, I fell to my knees and was unable to avoid a diagonal swing that sent me to the floor. "Ugh...rather not, it's harmful to my health." I groaned as I rolled to avoid being stomped on. Once more hurrying to my feet, I charged the thug, club first.

 **CRACK!**

The sound of bone breaking reverberated throughout the alley. I had landed a direct hit to the thug's nose. Smiling recklessly, I drove the club into my opponent's gut and slammed my right elbow into the man's back. Needless to say, Club-happy asshole was down for the count.

Scooping up a second club, I quipped, "I'll take that, thank you." Twirling both clubs, I approached the remaining two fuck heads. I will admit I was disappointed to see that the brute was still standing, even though, by the looks of the amount of holes in his chest, he had been hit numerous times.

"Hey, fuck-face!" I yelled before sprinting at the smaller one. In response, he gripped his club with both hands, ready to bash in my amazingly good-looking face. Spinning on my heel, I ducked, and moved passed the ass before lashing out with both cubs to his lower back. Unfortunately, there was no loud crack but he did fall to his knees, yelling in pain. I then sung both clubs at his neck with all my might, ending his cries. I yelled out in triumph, holding both clubs high into the air…for at least two seconds before I felt myself become weightless as something tossed me through the air. I had a short moment to realize that I forgotten about the brute and he had thrown me at a glass window of the bakery before crashing through it and landing hard on a table. Coughing and gasping in pain, I groaned as I slowly opened my eyes to find a rather attractive girl looking down at me. She had long brown hair and tan skin.

"H-hi…owe…" I intelligently said as I heard a familiar voice yelling something about getting up. I slowly sat up and remembered the reason why I was inside the bakery in the first place. The brute was climbing through the broken window, cracking his knuckles. "I gotta handle this, we'll talk after." Rolling off the table, I popped my back before looking up at the ogre and nodded, "You're pretty big, but I have fought larger."

He laughed before speaking in a voice that made me want to cover my ears, "Puny man full of shit. You small. You little. You weak. Yah."

"Who the hell you calling weak, you 'roid monke-" Before I could finish that sentence, he backhanded me, sending me into the wall.

"Here's an idea, kid. Try not to get hit." A Pulsian accented voice rang out.

I looked to find the brunette woman smirking at me, and instead of answering her, I yelled to Scorch, "Hey bro, I don't mean to rush you, but could you help me the fuck out?!" I ducked under the Roid Monkey's arm and launched a twist kick at his back. He barely budged.

"This damn crossbow is taking its sweet fucking time cooling down! The pack's malfunctioning or something!" His stressed voice yelled back.

"Oh for the fucking love of God!" I moved to the right of another one of the behemoth's swings.

"You fight like girly man, yah! Take it like a man!" 'Roids yelled before clipping me with a wild haymaker. Now, normally being clipped wouldn't do that much, except hurt slightly. However, being clipped by a guy who looks like he's done steroids since leaving the womb is about the equivalent of being hit by a Blitz Ball Champion's charge. For those of you who don't watch blitz Ball, it knocked me a few feet into the air. I moaned in pain as I slammed back down onto the ground. 'Roids picked me up and launched me across the bakery, into the bathroom. I slammed against one of the urinals with a painful crunch. Gasping in pain, I realized that my ribs may have just been cracked.

"Etro…what does this guy eat?" I tried to stand up as he entered the room. "Now…just give me a minute here, okay?" I asked him while leaning against the urinal and panting, trying to come up with a plan. 'Roids leaned against the sinks and that's when an idea clicked into my brain. A very stupid idea, but it was so stupid it may actually worked. I suddenly launched myself at him, rushing him. He was too surprised to react when I slammed him against the sink and rained punches down upon his face. In retaliation, he picked me up and used me as a battering ram to open one of the stalls. When he dropped me, I collapsed onto the toilet seat. "Uh, that really hurts…" I muttered, holding my side. He grinned down at me, lifting his fist. Faster than a lightning strike, I grabbed ahold of the top piece of the toilet and swung it with all my might at his face. It broke into pieces before 'Roids stumbled and finally collapsed. I panted for a while before pointing down at his fallen form, "Take that yah meaty freak."

I stumbled out of the stall before a familiar head of black hair entered the bathroom, "Dels, I'm coming to save…you…" He stopped short, crossbow at the ready.

I felt my eye twitch slightly, "Thanks, you did a great job." I said, emotionlessly as I walked past him.

"Are you hurt?" He asked, most likely noticing my fondness for my left side.

"Just my pride." I looked back at him, and thought better on it. "…Can I lean on you?"

Scorch chuckled and I knew he was rolling his eyes, "Sure."


	3. Chapter 3

**And the rewrite is finally here! I've been gone for a while, and I need to find a way to punish myself for not updating. Maybe you guys can give me some ideas. Anyways, the time was not wasted, as my great friend Icarus and I have created a golden plot bunny. The overall plot is still being tinkered with, but most of it is figured out. That means updating will occur more frequently... maybe. I'm quite lazy, but I'll try. Now, on with the chapter!**

My brother fell against my shoulder, practically panting. Just from watching him fight, I already knew he would be extremely exhausted at the end of it all. I would've rather defeat the thugs in some other way than having Dels exert the majority of his energy, but knowing nothing stops Dels, I just brushed the thought aside.

In my previous thought's place, a new question formed. 'Who did the thugs work for? The robed man? And why were they after us?' Before I had any time to think about it, a woman carefully entered the bathroom through the massive hole. Quickly looking over her, I noticed quite a few features that stood out, or at least made her stand out from the rest of the gathering crowd. A tattoo of some sort covered the upper part of both her arms. The black one looked familiar, but gazing over the white one, I couldn't recognize what it was. Maybe some symbol? At least, that's what came to mind when I noticed her clothing. It appeared to stand on the verge between tribalism and normal civilization. The deep blue sash that lay over her black tank top expressed her fashion abnormality, and her high combat boots and athletic shorts suggested she had a tough job. My guess was that she was a mercenary, or maybe even a freelancing soldier, but I didn't care. As long as she was friendly, she didn't matter to me.

Finishing my inspection of her, I noticed a pair of earrings with some sort of animal teeth. 'This woman is definitely some sort of native.' I couldn't think of where she have originated from, and I knew no others with wild and long black hair. Before I could've spent any more time gawking at this woman, an accent I have never heard of rung out from her throat.

"Quite the mess you guys made. You know why they were after you?"

I shot a quick glare at her. It was none of her business, why was she interfering?

"No, and I don't intend to figure it out at the moment. Now if you'll excuse my brother and I, we have to go." I said impatiently as I made my way for the bathroom door. This woman was certainly no friend, and I couldn't let her find out anything about us while she had the chance. The subtle interest in us was there, and I noticed it all too well.

Unfortunately, she noticed my noticing, and she moved in front of the door, and stayed close enough to the hole where she could block us if we tried to escape either way. 'Shit.' Dels was in no mood to fight, and I was never really any good with close quarters combat, and this bathroom was small. All I had with me was my crossbow, but at this range, it would be near useless. We were trapped, and there was nothing we could do about it.

"Now, the local police will get here within five minutes, so unless you want to be locked up in that dingy hole they call jail, you're coming with me." She had a point. Most of the crimes in the area were blamed on us, even if we didn't commit them. The only reason the police hadn't come for us was because they know we didn't commit half the ridiculous crimes... but that's not to say they wouldn't chase us soon. Besides, maybe she was right. Maybe it would be better than staying in some dark and cold cell. 'No, that's the kind of thinking that would get you killed... or worse.' We had to be prepared for anything.

"Fine, we'll come with you..." I looked at Dels as I said this, and he understood. If anything funny were to happen, we would try to escape immediately. Dels nodded and I looked back at the woman. I knew he wasn't happy, but I also knew he realized the danger of the situation, and our choices. Just before the woman was about to say a few more words, the sound of multiple vehicles coming to a stop outside the shop suggested the police were here.

"Looks like you'll have to help. Try and escape and I'm coming after you."

I nodded, but didn't intend to keep my promise. Why should Dels and I listen if we have a chance to release ourselves from this madness? After walking through the door behind the woman, I noticed at least two or three police squads surrounding the exits, and a few other men entering the building with their guns raised. 'Medium powered ion powered pistols? Not too dangerous..' I concluded this was more of a 'search and capture' than 'search and destroy'. Either way, I had to find a way to get Dels and I out of here. Looking around, I saw no useful exits. Guess we'll just stick with the woman.

Just as the police started advancing towards us, the woman held up a hand. The police stopped in their tracks and watched as our 'saviour' showed them her left arm with the white tattoo. They then backed off, but they hadn't dispersed. 'Is this woman a friend of theirs? What was that all about?' Before I could try to answer any of my questions, the woman walked forward and motioned for us to follow her. At a slow but steady pace, Dels and I walked behind her, and once outside, we were instantly cuffed. 'So much for a plan of escape.' Even if we had escaped, I was sure these cuffs were bugged, and had some sort of tracking device implemented in them. What did Dels and I do to deserve this?

We never had the time to really think about it though. Within a few seconds after being cuffed, the metal constraints shot a needle into us, and Dels and I were just a few limp bodies on the ground.

 **Sorry for the short chapter, but I couldn't really put too much in at this point. I assure it will get better as time goes along. I'll update this if I need to, but for now, continue with your life! Or the story. Whatever works for you!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Coming back to this one before posting chapter four of Vincent's story. Sorry for taking so long, but as I'm sure the Soldier of Butter has told you, we're trying to kick Sophomore year's ass. Actually working for once. Anyway, with the new job on top of school and writing, it's about time we get back to it. So, without further ado, please review, (I'm a review whore, there I said it) follow and/or favorite us or the story, and actually tell us if we suck. I like criticism, so, please give us your honest opinion. We also are very open to suggestions or questions.**  
 **Cheers my friends**  
 **Stryke**

 **Chapter IV: Well Shit…**

"BITCH, YOU BETTER FUCKING LET ME-Gah! Hey, hey, hey watch the hair-agh...bitch, that actually hurt…" I shouted before being forcefully shoved into a cell along with my brother.

"Well...that went well." Scorch muttered under his breath as he plopped down on one of the two cots.

"Oh, shut the hell up! It's not like it's MY fault we're in this mess!" I shouted as I paced the small cell before I grabbed the bars and tried to stick my head through, "Hey, cock wizards! Why don't you come here and we can play house?! I'll be the sober, abusive husband and you'll be the wife I beat the fuck out of!" I yelled, trying to get...well, anyone's attention. I was stuck in a cell, my hair got messed up, and even though I was still dealing with pain from the bakery fight, I definitely was in the mood for some Guardian Corp ass-whooping.

"Dels, shut up!" Scorch yelled and I spun around to find him glaring daggers at me. "You've done enough." He said it under his breath but I still caught it.

I felt my own glare falter as I realized what that implied, "Wait...you're not blaming me for this, are you bro?" All I got in response was a pointed glare before he stared at the ceiling. I felt the anger rise ten-fold within me before turning to shame. It was one thing to be wrongfully blamed-that I was used to-but it was a whole thing entirely to be wrongfully blamed by your own flesh and blood; your baby brother. I glared and opened my mouth to make a comment before sighing and waving him off, sliding down the wall opposite of Scorch, my chin resting my hands. "I'm sorry..." I breathed out, mostly to myself. It wouldn't do for Scorch to overhear me and think that I was getting weak.

Ever since Mom died...I had to be the older brother who got himself in trouble so Scorch didn't have to. Whenever there was a problem, I made sure I handled it in the flashiest fashion I could. To be honest, I'm not sure how we even manage to make it so far. Especially since my own plan had backfired many times, resulting in Scorch having to try and bail me out.

I blinked to keep my eyes dry as I remembered that last day with my mother, almost seven years ago now.

xxx

 _I stood at Mother's side, holding the glass of water for her as she was too weak to even lift it herself before bringing it to her lips._

 _She slowly drank the entire glass and as I placed it on the bedside table, she looked at me with glazed, icy-blue eyes, "Thank you...you're a good boy...you look like my son, Delson." Her voice was raspy and almost made me want to cringe._

 _"I am your son, Mom." I said, trying to keep it together as I checked the damp cloth on her forehead. I had just placed it on her and already it was warm._

 _"No...my Dels is taller...and his hair is more red, like crimson or vermilion..." Her eyes wandered away from my face. "Reckon he's playing with Scorch right now. He looks so much like his father..." She broke off, her pale skin glistening with sweat as her once blood red hair loss its color. "Your mother must be proud of you...taking care of me. Eden knows, if Dels or Scorch were taking care of a dying woman instead of going to school, I'd be proud."_

 _"Mom..." I heard my voice crack so I cleared my throat and wiped my eyes, "Mom, it is me. It's Delson."_

 _"Mother?" A familiar voice asked. Turning around, I saw it was Scorch._

 _I quickly straightened, "How was school?" I asked him._

 _"Scorch." Mother turned to him, trying to raise her arms and cutting off his reply. His response was immediate; climbing into the bed to be next to her. "Where's your brother? I haven't...seen him in a while...this nice child has been taking care of me..." I covered my mouth with my fist as she said this, but I knew there was no changing it. She was fighting a losing battle, and she herself knew it. I didn't know what she had, and we didn't have any money for the hospital._

 _Scorch shot her a sad look, but he understood. "Mother, he's right there." He told her, pointing to me, but even if he was only nine, he knew she wouldn't recognize me. She hadn't for the past six months._

 _She turned back to me, studying me before and her eyes lit up for a brief second; a second that filled me with hope, "No...no, Delson is taller with vermilion hair...like mine was..." Her eyes glazed over once more as she stared at the ceiling, her breathing coming in short wheezes, "Dels...where are you...I would very much like...to see you...just one last time..." She let out a shuddering breath as her eyes fluttered closed._

 _"Mother?" Scorch shook her but I couldn't speak; couldn't even move. "Mom? Mom!" Scorch shouted, tears falling from his face as he broke down into sobs. I on the other hand just crumpled to the floor in a heap, unable to process. Unable to believe it. To this day, I don't know how long I spent, shaking with silent tears as my little brother cried his eyes out and yelled till his throat became hoarse, but I do remember arms grabbing me and trying to pull me as the noise died down. I would learn later that Scorch had managed to drag me into my room and there he stayed until I regained the ability to function. It was then, I swore to always be there for him, to be the big brother he deserved. To take all the pain and punishment life would throw at us._

 _xxx_

I shook as I tightened my hold on my knees and tried to curl up as I silently sobbed.

"I miss her too...and I'm..." Scorch's voice began but decreased in volume. Even though I couldn't make out what was said, I believe I picked out and apology in his sentence. Looking up in surprise as I felt a hand on my shoulder, I found my brother's face marked with tear streaks.

"No, I'm sorry." I said softly and we shared a one-armed embrace before breaking away and lightly hitting each others' shoulders. "I fucked up. I shouldn't have, especially because we're all we got left."

Scorch nodded and we both shared a moment of silence. This was the truth of it: We were the only family we had left, and no matter what, I would make damn sure we got out. We survived the streets of Eden, we can get out of this.

 **A/N: Well, this is it. After a pretty long time, the character development thickens and the back-story is flushed out slightly. So, did you all enjoy? If so, please show the love and jot down a review, or click the follow and/or favorite tabs, and flame! Because a flame is still a review! EITHER WAY WE WIN! *ahem* sorry. Anyway, if you like this, you should check out the other ffxiii story Butter is writing because it actually follows the plot and so-far is pretty good. Also you can check out my page if you haven't already and see the stories I've written. To those of you that have, I promise chapter 19 of LS will be out soon and it will not be a short 2000 words either! Cheers,**

 **Stryke (^^,)**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: So I decided to change this chapter a little for plot reasons. This is different though, so don't be one of those people who say they've already read it. I'll get working on chapter 6 soon, but I first have to post this! Now, since I want to continue onto the last Author's Note, you can skip this if you have already read/remembered it. I'm just posting it for new readers. If you're wondering about the awkwardness here, please note that I rewrite my chapters... occasionally. I won't always do it, but I don't always have an unlimited amount of time. School actually ripped me out of my lazy state, so I am glad to be working on this story... and my writing, but school also takes away the time from doing said writing. It's an awkward love-hate relationship... but anyways! For those new readers, I'm going to note a few things... and maybe the old readers can note this too... if you're still here. My writing has quite a bit of developing to go through. I'm not saying I hate my writing, and you'd have to be absolutely oblivious to what you just read if you think I love my writing. That said, chapter's will get better throughout the year, which is why I encourage you to stick around. From some help by Stryke -you may know him as Icarus- help from classes, and hopefully help from you guys, my writing skills will progress faster than they would if I were to just base it off my English classes. Any help would be amazing, as I really want to get better at writing... I mean who doesn't... although my lack of updates doesn't express... never mind. That's not the point. Criticism, destructive or constructive, is always welcomed. Any questions will be answered and blah blah, the usual thing authors say. Now on to the second part. For those of you who don't know, which I'm assuming that's most of you, I go to my dads every other weekend, but he didn't have wifi for quite a while. Finally, for reasons I do not want to explain, he started paying for the blessed wifi, and I can now work on the weekends too. I could also work without wifi, but I like to have spell check for those big obnoxious words. I'm pretty sure I spelled that wrong before it was corrected. That aside, I have one more thing to note, and I'm very sorry to keep you here for such a long read. In fact, if you want, you can skip to the story now, as this part is not too important for you guys and gals. Stryke and I have come up with an ingenious plot (as I mentioned before) ... well, at least we think it's ingenious. It's quite complicated, and I'm sure there's some undiscovered mistakes and loops, but we'll make it work. Now if you ask what the plot is, I'm not going to tell you. You'll just have to read and find out. That aside, let's start the story!**

Chapter 5: Escape

A few salty droplets tumbled down my cheek as my eyes drifted about the ground. We were always either blaming ourselves, or one another for our problems. We figured no one but each other could be blamed. They were _our_ problems. Who else could have... I snapped out of my somber state and glared at the opposite wall. It was him. That idiot who made such a shitty comeback, back in the street by the bakery. It was true, Dels and I would blame ourselves in this situation, but all it took was a little reminiscing. Usually, it wouldn't have been this easy to choose a source of a problem aside from Dels and me, but this made perfect sense. Sure, what the robed man said was utterly cringe worthy, but it had certainly explained why some mysterious ugly thugs arrived to beat the shit out of Dels and I. Well, this was fucking great. Couldn't we tell them the truth? We were confronted by thugs, assaulted, and we defended ourselves... adequately. It took a restaurant wall to beat them... but it was worth it. I mean, what would you rather have taken. Your life, or a restaurant's wall? Yeah... pretty self explanatory... unless you were the type of person who would rather die in such a brutal way that not even the most advanced identifiers –or whatever the fuck they are called- could recognize an inch of your face.

But why were we thrown in jail? Did the beefy burritos get caught too? Speaking of which, I guess a couple deaths and vandalism should have landed us in prison easily... and it did.

I glanced towards my left and noticed Dels' glazed eyes. He was in the same state I was in before I realized what really happened. Or at least I thought I did. I put a hand on Dels' shoulder and shook him a little. Though it still pained me to recollect memories of my mother, and see Dels in the same pain, I had enough determination to pull through it. I was sure he had enough too.

"Listen... it's not us... it's him." I watched as Dels looked up at me in confusion, and I continued to explain my theory. "That robed guy, the one who scolded you. He said something to you didn't he? I could swear I heard him say something about understanding the area... If he really meant it, he could've been the one to send those thugs after us." I could tell the cogs in Dels' mind were turning, and I hoped he would understand... to which he did as expressed by the sudden clenching of his jaw.

"But why would he target us? And how? No one knows about that hideout."

"I'm not too sure, but it seems like someone did know about it. And whoever it was, they tipped him off... unless the man knew himself. Some things just didn't add up." I pounded my fist against the ground in frustration, hoping to transfer it from myself to the ground. Instead, the opposite occurred. Pain seeped into my hand and I let out a loud 'fuck'. Damn metal floors. Why didn't the Guardian Corpse have a little generosity? They could have used something less hazardous, like... mattresses! Wait, what am I thinking about? I need to focus.

"So then... now what. Do we fight, run, allow ourselves to stay here?"

"That's all we can do." I let my eyes lock onto Dels' face. "We'll just have to wait for one of those public lawyers, or whatever they're called. I would certainly fight back, but I'm sure we both see the problems with that. It's the same with running... so we'll just wait, and when we get out, we have some payback to deliver." A small smirk ran across my mouth, and I wasn't sure what I was going to say next, but I didn't need to be. The cell door creaked open, and a man in a sleek black and blue business suit stood in the door frame.

With a quick inspection, I could tell this guy was smart, fancy, and... that's about it. His choice of suit interested me, and he seemed to age in his mid 30s. He wasn't ugly either. Even with the suti on, I could tell he had at least some sort of muscle, and the thin glasses that covered his steely blue eyes expressed his intelligence quite clearly. If one were to focus on his fancy side, they would be bound to compliment his hairstyle. Each brown hair stood straight up, and from my point of view, it looked like a jagged mountain. His suit, while mostly black, was decorated with a blue trim, and I couldn't spot a wrinkle on the damn thing. Something about this guy already told me he's someone you don't want to mess with. Now the guards...

Two guards accompanied the man's sides. These weren't your average security guards though. Just by looking at their armor, I could tell these were elite guards. I've seen some soldiers and guards in my past, but these elites surpassed any of them. I assumed their armor's material was composed of something similar to a metal and high tension fabric weave. Clearly, it was some advanced shit. But that wasn't all that gave them toughness points. Their held guns also appeared as something to be reckoned with. The slim yet long and tall weapons looked dangerous... and I was sure they were. Apart from their armor and weapons, I couldn't tell anything else about the two beings. Their faces were obscured by the full helmet, and the multiple pocket-looking areas on their armor had to have contained at least some sort of device. Even just their armor alone concealed their amount of muscle. It looked as though these were high security guards... but Dels and I didn't do anything that bad, right?

It didn't matter though. Something wasn't right here, and I intended on figuring out said problem. Dels and I weren't about to spend 10 years in prison just because we had been falsely accused of... wait, what were we accused of. We had the right to self defense, and I wasn't actually sure if we had killed anyone. SO THEN WHAT WAS THIS BULLSHIT?! My blood boiled in my thoughts, and whomever had caused us this shit was about to get into some deep doo doo. Of course, said doo doo couldn't be recklessly thrown. It had to be carefully placed. The victim's actions must be predicted, and the doo doo must be carefully placed so that... what the hell am I thinking about?

Well, either way, I had a theory, and I needed to make sure Dels understood it fully, only I couldn't tell him now. I was sure the well-suited man would assume we were making up some story to prove our innocence... which was what we kind of were actually doing. I mean, without evidence, how were Dels and I supposed to reveal what really happened? All that remained of evidence was some hospitalized bodies, and a broken wall in a restaurant. Maybe even a dead body, but that would just prove our guilt rather than our innocence. I was also sure it wouldn't be a great idea to mention anything related to our hideout. As far as Dels or I knew, no one had discovered it yet, but it was only a matter of time before one of the hospitalized thugs handed that info over to the authorities. Man would that suck. We would be accused of sooo many crimes. Stolen items, weapons we weren't allowed to even possess, deadly traps to keep invaders out: everything about our hideout could possibly extend our sentence if we lost the case. I guess those beat up –and to use Dels' term in a correct manner- ass-hats are more dangerous than I thought.

Unfortunately, thinking time was over, and that was suggested by the sudden tug of my arm by one of the two... soldiers? Guards? Well, you get the idea. I looked over at Dels, catching his eye just to make sure he followed our plan: don't fight or run, just go with it. His slightest nod mentioned he understood, and I allowed to guard to start pushing me out of the cell once I had been stood up. No fighting or running... yet. Dels and I were getting out of here, no matter what. I would certainly make sure of that.

It was only after a three minute walk that Dels and I had arrived at a darkened room, along with the Trio of Law. From just a glance, anyone could tell what this room was. An interrogation room. Not like one of those rooms filled with death machines and torture devices. The room was simply lit by a small cone that stuck out from the ceiling. Other than functioning as a light, I assumed it was also used as a camera. Why? Well, the room was literally bare. Not even a table or chair sat in the middle. What crispy motherfucker decided to just make a room with a light and a camera? At least put something in the room. I didn't care if some rabid beast had been put in here, just decorate the god damn room.

Trying to shun the thought of the lack of objects within the vicinity, I turned towards the suited man and cleared my throat. Normally, I would let Dels amuse himself whilst talking with these guys, but without knowing our crime, I figured joking or taunting after possibly being accused of murder was not the best idea. Of course, we was allowed to intervene whenever. I just wanted to get some main points across.

"So... why are we here?"

The suited man didn't respond, or even acknowledged that I had spoken. What was with this guy? Why would he bring us here if he wasn't going to talk? All he was doing was looking at his sleeve as though he were inspecting some kind of dust spec. The silence began to annoy me, and I was about to give up on communication, until he finally spoke.

"Do you know about him?" He spoke... but what the fuck did that mean? Know about who? I looked towards Dels for this one, but not even he knew what the suited man was talking about.

"About... who?" And with this question, I received a quick glare from the interrogator. Annoyed already? If he was... this was going to be a trip.

"Don't play games with me. You know who I'm talking about. Why else would his colleague claim suspicious activity near the bakery you live close to?" SHIT! He already knew about that? Just with that statement, I could feel my chance of winning flow through a pipe into the sewers.

"Listen, I said I don't know who you're talking about. And what do you mean we live close to a bakery? For all you know, we could-" My smooth talking was juuust starting to get into gear, but the bastard just had to interrupt me.

"You could what? Live some bit away from the bakery? Don't be so foolish. By now, I'm sure you've already figured who's thugs those were. Or maybe you at least got close."

So they were connected to that robed guy, more so his colleague. But what was so important about him? How was our activity suspicious? We hadn't done anything but try and steal from him. Although I was tingling to make a smart-ass comment, I held back. I wasn't worried about anything that would result from it, other than Dels continuing off what I said. I've known Dels to get pretty nasty in a fight.

"Your continual silence tells me 'yes'. But maybe you really don't know anything. It wouldn't make sense to attack someone with so much power. But then again, it would. You see, the world of laws can be a dangerous place. Without knowing the rules, you could suck yourself into something you know nothing about."

"Speaking of knowing nothing about stuff, why the hell are you involving us if we don't know anything about this 'guy'. In that case, it's your fault for dragging us into this." I smiled at Dels' words. He made a great point, and to me, he wasn't the type to make the strongest points. This should bring up some interesting topics.

"Speak of irony. Aren't you the one who attack that man?"

"Attacked? What the hell are you talking about?" Looks like I could let Dels handle this one. In figuring so, I remained silent and watched the two argue. Only, I wish the suited man hadn't smiled.

"You know what I'm talking about. What do you think people will believe? The fact that you were simply stealing from an elder, or attacking a defenseless being? If you don't know, being a lawyer grants one special power. Do you really think the accused get a meaningful say in all of this?" He had a point. That guy had more power than us... but something didn't feel right.

"You're talking dirt, but you know that a camera is watching you, correct?" Right, that's what was wrong. This idiot decided to just blackmail us in front of a camera.

"You do know that I currently had the camera on a loop, correct?" Great... now I feel like an idiot. But aside from that, this guy was bad news. If he had to disable a camera to enter this room, that means he's not part of the local authority, and assuming that was correct, the guards next to him were just bodyguards. Shit, the danger of this situation just increased tenfold...

 **AN** : **There we go. A much better chapter. So I decided to end this here because of reasons. Stryke will take the next chapter –unless he wants to pass- so I figured this would be a good checkpoint. It took a lot longer that I suspected, and I am truly sorry for that. I don't really have much to say, other than I hope you guys enjoy the story so far! I told you it would get better as it went on! Now, I'm going to go do whatever, most likely play World of Tanks or Star Wars: The Old Republic. See you guys... in about two chapters maybe. Bye! -Butter**


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